To Kill A Man
by MissJayne
Summary: With a mysterious death and more bodies coming out of the woodwork, the team must work quickly to solve the case. But the problems don't end at the arrival of an unforeseen guest... Mentions of Jibbs. Lily!
1. Prologue

_A/N: Thanks to my beta Kristen! The ninth story (or tenth, depending on where the count begins) in the Lily series. _

_Dedication: For my father, who loves reading about murders. This is more casefile heavy than any of my other stories, although there is plenty of team interaction as well._

To Kill A Man

Chapter 1: Prologue

The warm July air was a balm to Peter Lambert. He had spent the last three months in Alaska, and had been craving the warmth of DC ever since he had stepped on the plane to leave. Finally being back was worth more money than he could ever wish for.

The stars were shining brightly from their appointed places in the heavens above, while the full moon lit up the streets more effectively than the streetlamps, most of which were broken anyway. Clearly the politicians were still too busy voting themselves more money while letting the country go to rack and ruin. And yet people continued to believe their lies and broken promises.

He sighed as he walked, forcing himself to focus on happier thoughts. His friends were waiting in a small bar a few blocks away, the result of a planned welcome-back party. He hoped to drink a few beers tonight, safe in the knowledge that someone else was the designated driver for once. They would sit around all night, talking about everything and nothing, perhaps go see a movie, and then make plans to meet up tomorrow night.

There was nothing to worry about…

It was at that precise moment that Peter Lambert stumbled over a dead body.

* * *

Leroy Jethro Gibbs took in the scene as best he could.

Three dumpsters were lined up along the far wall, with the back door to the bar stationed a few feet away. No bouncer on the door – that would make everything so much easier – but fate had a habit of refusing to shine on him. The rear of a shop took up the other wall, although the late hour automatically meant it was shut. There were no cameras either on the main street or in the small alley.

Though there was a dead body.

From his years of experience, he was able to make a few educated guesses before Ducky showed up. The position of the body suggested the man died where he fell, and the absence of an obvious wound on the man's back suggested a frontal assault. He was lying in an almost fetal position, so he could have been stabbed? Punched? Without moving the body, and thus incurring Ducky's wrath, he was not able to approximate anything further.

His team were all busying themselves with their respective jobs. Tony had commandeered the camera again, leaving Ziva to sketch and glare at her partner's back, while McGee interviewed the man who had literally stumbled over their body. Gibbs doubted they would get anything of use out of their one and only witness; it had been too dark down here when they had pulled up. Nevertheless, there was always a chance.

He rubbed his brow and wondered what was keeping Ducky. From what he was aware of, he was fairly sure that his old friend had planned to go straight home when he had left the Navy Yard a few hours ago, which meant he should have arrived by now. If anything had happened to his mother, a phone call would have been made, undoubtedly apologetic and promising the services of Mr. Palmer. What could be keeping them?

The familiar purring of a van bought him back into focus. It seemed that Ducky had thought it worthwhile to return to NCIS and retrieve more effective tools of his trade. He really should have thought of that option instead of panicking. He would never live it down if a certain CIA agent found about it…

Although considering she was currently in France, it was unlikely she would. All the same, she had a knack for finding these things out. He wouldn't put it past her to have someone shadowing him at all times. And if he told Jenny anything, her sister would figure it out in seconds.

He watched as the medical examiner approached, noticing how his team parted unconsciously to allow him access. McGee finished talking to the witness, who took himself off as soon as he had the chance, leaving the agent to return to the flock. Gibbs found himself moving closer too, waiting for Ducky's judgments.

They would all be well thought-out, and useful too. Ducky had a knack for refusing to pronounce on anything he was not completely certain about. While it could be aggravating on occasions where they needed fast results, it had the advantage of not sending them off on wild goose chases every five minutes. When time was of the essence, Ducky performed admirably, and he did an excellent job when he had more time as well.

Tony set off a flash incredibly close to Ziva's face, and Gibbs doled out the requisite head-slap. Some day that boy would learn better. Until then, the old method seemed to work. Perhaps he could set Lily on him…

"Time of death," Ducky announced, still pouring over the soon-to-be latest visitor to his domain. "It looks to be around two hours ago, although I cannot be certain until I get him back."

"Two hours ago," Ziva repeated. "That would be around 2200."

Gibbs didn't mind her stating the obvious; if it helped her, it helped the team and it would get the job done that bit quicker.

"Cause of death," Ducky mused, attempting to roll the body over carefully. "Ah. I would venture that the cause of death has something to do with this stab wound here."

Gibbs leaned in closer, trying to get a better look. It helped when Tony took several pictures of it, the bright flash lighting up the bloody wound in the man's chest.

"From the lack of a trail and the blood pooling, I would say that he died where he fell."

As it confirmed his original assumption, Gibbs chose to say nothing. They could canvass the area to see if anyone saw or heard anything. His team were already moving away, having anticipated his next order, when Ducky made a startled noise.

Everyone leaned in closer.

"It appears," Ducky noted, "That our killer has taken a trophy."

Gibbs stared at the stump for a few moments. Who would take a finger?


	2. And So It Begins

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Am very happy after finishing Wilderness of Mirrors! And, erm... objectophilia was brought up by a friend in the middle of a lecture. I spent the next 30 minutes trying not to laugh._

Chapter 2: And So It Begins

Ziva David glared at her partner. The man had an uncanny knack for being a complete pain and for aggravating her. This time he had started flicking rubber bands in her direction, making her want to go over to him and make him suffer.

The only thing holding her back was that she could not decide what she wanted to do in revenge. Stabbing him was far too kind, shooting him would attract everyone's attention, and torturing him with office supplies would require more time than she had at the moment.

They were waiting for Gibbs to return from one of his regular coffee runs. He had left them to pull up as much information on Marine Sergeant Jacobs, Ducky's current guest, as possible. For once, it had not taken too long. The man had not been in debt, and appeared to be well liked. There was no obvious motive for his death.

And yet he had died. Judging by the missing right index finger, it was unlikely that it had been a random attack. The finger had been taken on purpose, as some form of a trophy. Jacobs had probably known his attacker in some way.

She closed her eyes against the assault that Tony was still waging, and decided it would be best if she bought up a topic to discuss. Tony always found it difficult to harass her in more than one way at the same time, and if she controlled the conversation, she could have some fun of her own.

"I saw an interesting movie last night," she declared. She knew her partner would not be able to resist this particular topic.

She was right. "And what would that be, Ziva?" he asked, dropping the remaining rubber bands on his desk and looking fascinated.

"_The Golden Compass_," she replied. "Personally, I preferred the book. I felt there was an overreliance on special effects."

Tony grinned. "'Overreliance' is a fancy word for our Mossad Officer to use. Been reading the dictionary lately as well?"

She glared at him. "Acting Director Wofford was using it yesterday. I felt it was relevant to this conversation."

"I thought Wofford was in LA," McGee piped up. "At a conference on counter-terrorism."

"Keep up, Probilious," Tony snorted. "Ziva said _yesterday_. Acting Director Wofford got on the plane to go to LA_ last night_. Why do they schedule all these conferences at the same time anyway? Jenny's over in France, Wofford's in LA – does this mean Gibbs is in charge again?"

"Seeing as Wofford is still in the country, she is still in charge," Ziva sighed. Why did no one ever understand these things? "If you do not believe me, ask Cynthia."

Her colleagues turned to see what she had spotted – Cynthia walking down the stairs. Actually, she was almost running. She seemed tense and worried. Ziva rose to her feet. Something was definitely wrong.

"Where's Gibbs?" Cynthia queried the moment she rounded the corner.

"Out for coffee," Ziva answered. "What is going on?"

Right on time, the elevator doors opened and Gibbs stepped off. Everyone immediately turned to him.

"Report," he barked, seemingly not noticing Cynthia's presence.

"Gibbs," the assistant whispered. "I just got a phone call from New Mexico PD. They found a skeleton in the desert, and it has Jenny's ID on it."

* * *

Gibbs had never taken the stairs to MTAC so quickly before. His heart was pounding in his chest, his mind was racing.

Although everyone believed Jenny to be safe in France, they were completely wrong. After the recent long stressful times, he had practically ordered her to take a break for a fortnight. She had insisted on minimizing disruption to her agency, timing her vacation with a conference she was supposed to attend.

Naturally, Lily was attending the conference while Jenny swanned around, of all places, New Mexico.

She had insisted on going alone. In an attempt to make sure she did no work at all, she had not left a forwarding cell phone number. He wasn't even sure where in New Mexico she was. She had promised she would be safe and take all available precautions, but that seemed to have been shot out of the water.

His only hope was to beg Lily for that cell phone number. The sisters would make sure they could still contact each other, no matter what. The main problem was that Lily was very likely to refuse him outright, to toy with him. Hopefully, he could impress upon her the urgency of the situation.

The MTAC door opened and he all but ran inside. The technicians looked startled at the intrusion, but he gave it no thought. If anything had happened to Jenny, he would never forgive himself.

"Call the Director," he ordered, knowing Lily would have her phone.

It took an agonizing twenty seconds for them to tap in the number and the familiar ringing to begin. He paced up and down, in an attempt to calm himself.

"Shepard," came the standard greeting.

"She's fine," Tony remarked behind him.

"Where are you, Lily?" Gibbs demanded, not bothering with the pleasantries. He didn't have the time for her usual insults.

"Sitting outside at a beautiful café on the Champs-Élysées," she replied. "The security detail aren't particularly happy about it, but I can live with that."

"Speaking of living, I need Jenny's number," he continued.

"She said she doesn't want to be disturbed." He could almost see the grin on her face as she spoke. "I count you as something disturbing, in more ways than one."

"I have a dead body with your sister's name on it in the New Mexico desert," he informed her. "I need that phone number."

There was complete silence for a full five seconds on the other end of the line. "I'd know if she was dead," Lily told him, but there was an undercurrent of concern in her voice. "505 555 1952. Tell her to call me the minute you hang up."

Gibbs gestured for the call to be cut. Lily had never appreciated long drawn-out goodbyes, and now was definitely not the time for one. The technicians automatically started dialing the new number while he held his breath.

It rang, and it rang, and it rang…

"Go to Hell, Lil," came a sleepy answer.

"Jen?" he checked.

"Jethro?" came a confused reply. "Tell Lil she's dead."

"But you're still alive?" he continued. "All the flesh still on your bones and everything?"

"Is this your idea of a prank phone call?" Jenny inquired, now sounding more awake.

"Dead body with your name on it, more like," he informed her. Around him, he noticed the others breathing sighs of relief. "Probably just some mix-up somewhere. Lily wants a phone call."

Jenny groaned. "And I thought I'd have a lie-in today."

* * *

Tony DiNozzo was worried. Not officially worried, mainly because he did not want to others to realize his concern, but worried nonetheless.

Who in the world would fake Jenny's death? What possible purpose would they have for doing so? And how did they know where Jenny really was?

Clearly the perpetrator had not thought this through. If Gibbs didn't get them, Lily would. The real dead body could be traced, giving them a list of suspects. Lily was capable of bringing the whole CIA into this, and almost certainly a lot of other people too. Everyone worried about the safety of directors of armed federal agencies, especially considering the information they knew.

The worst thing was the note of anxiety in Lily's voice. The fact that she was worried did not concern him, not anymore, but it had been as though she was aware of something they weren't. The last time that had happened, it had turned out that Jenny had a crazy stalker. This time, he was sure even his own nightmares could not come up with something so bad.

His teammates seemed to be taking this all in their stride, however. McGoo had returned to typing away at this workstation, while Ziva was busying herself with a pile of paper. Only Gibbs was not present, having stayed in MTAC to continue his discussion with the Director. At least someone had the right idea.

Part of him was tempted to forget about the case and focus on this new development. But he knew getting a secret out of Lily was like trying to get blood out of a stone. He would need something to force her hand…

A ball of paper hit the side of his head, making him look across to Ziva. She had a little grin on her face.

"While you were busy watching a movie last night," he began. "I was watching a very intriguing documentary."

"Let me guess," she countered. "It was related to Playboy."

"No, it was about objectophilia."

"What?" McGee looked up from his work.

"Feelings of love, attraction, arousal and commitment for a particular object," Ziva explained. "I saw that documentary last month."

"Like the woman who married the Berlin Wall?" McGee checked.

"Back on topic," Tony tried. "I've been thinking, doesn't Palmer look shifty? I bet he's having sex with his car."

Ziva did not bat an eyelid. "I thought you were more likely to do so," she noted.

"Err, guys?" McGee called.

"Don't tell us," Tony grinned. "You've decided to admit your secret desire for your typewriter."

McGee ignored the comment. "I've found case files for three other Marines killed in the same way, each missing a finger." He looked up from his screen. "I think we're looking for a serial killer."


	3. Hawaiian Surprise

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Extra hugs for SJ for working out who the special guest in this chapter is..._

Chapter 3: Hawaiian Surprise

Ducky smiled as he stepped off the elevator. He always found Abigail's lab to be a welcoming place, although he supposed it was more due to the occupant than the work that went on in there.

The loud music was a form of a greeting, and it told everyone that Abigail was well. It also gave a warning as to the tastes of the occupant, so that people would not be unduly alarmed when they found the Goth. He was aware of some new agents who had frozen in place at the sight of her eclectic leanings.

It soon went away as you came to know the Goth. Warm and bubbly, always willing to lend a hand or an ear, it was impossible for anyone to hate her. Even her stalker had been completely in love with her, and not in the least bit resentful.

He entered her domain with his smile still in place. It was difficult not to be happy around Abigail. Without realizing it, she lit up every room she walked into. Her irrepressible nature was loved by all.

She was standing at her usual position in from of her computer screen, bobbing her head up and down to the beat. Her fingers were flying across her keyboard as she continued with her work, unaware of his presence, completely focused on her job. Her lips were parted in silent concentration and he was loathe to disturb her. Perhaps he could come back later…

He turned to leave, but was stopped by a curse from the Goth. Turning back, he noticed that her screen was now displaying a 'Continue?' message.

"Should you be doing that at this hour?" he teased.

She spun around to greet him. "Hi, Ducky," she beamed. "You must be channeling Gibbs. I didn't hear you at all! This is for a different case." She waved at the screen behind her.

He smiled warmly at his friend. "I've come for the tox results for Marine Sergeant Jacobs."

"Ah, I was going to bring them down to you earlier, but I got a bit engrossed in the other case," she apologized. "He's clean as a whistle, although that would depend on the whistle in question, because if it's anything like the whistle my brother used to own, it would be completely filthy, and no one can say that I'm not precise."

"I thought as much," Ducky confirmed.

"You have a theory? Tell me," she demanded, pulling up two chairs.

He sat down carefully. "Jacobs was stabbed once. The blade pierced his right lung and he died fairly quickly, luckily for him. His right index finger was removed shortly after death with the same blade. I think, although you would need to confirm this, that the same Marine boot knife was used for the murder and the trophy taking."

Her eyes widened. "Was it his own knife? Imagine that, death by Rule 9."

Ducky shook his head and chuckled. It seemed everyone knew Gibbs' rules by heart. "His own knife was accounted for on his body."

"So that would make our serial killer a Marine," she noted.

"Serial killer?" he asked.

"How long have you got?" she grinned.

* * *

Timothy McGee continued to review the previous cases. In each instance, the killer had stabbed them and removed their right index finger post mortem. There had been no leads, no clues, and no suspects. They had all died in different places as well: one in San Diego, the second in New York, and the third in Las Vegas. Due to the geographical dispersion, no one had linked the cases.

Until now.

Gibbs was back in MTAC, talking with the Director. He had been informed of yesterday's developments, and had ordered them to investigate further while he tried to work out who would fake the Director's death.

After the chaos of a few months ago, things seemed to be back to normal for 'the parents', as Abby termed them. They were arguing less, they were actually talking again, and they occasionally arrived at the same time. Tony had spent his spare time taking even more bets than usual. His latest one was something about how long it would take until the Director had another baby.

Even Abby had joined in that one, although she had also taken to dropping little hints to Gibbs. The boss had been his usual dismissive self, though had, in Abby's opinion, mentioned it to Jenny. The Goth seemed to think that bringing up this chain of discussion would encourage them to give the twins another sibling.

McGee seriously doubted this. As far as he was concerned, it was not going to happen. He felt so strongly about it that he had even placed money on it. Tony had ribbed him for ages about having such little faith.

"Why would anyone remove that particular finger?" he mused aloud.

"Because he's a serial killer and all serial killers are deranged?" Tony suggested. "It doesn't have to have a reason."

"I would understand if he was removing ring fingers," Ziva piped up. "Ring fingers are associated with marriage. But index fingers do not have anything as obvious connected with them."

"A number one," Tony added. "Or for pointing at something?"

McGee felt his jaw drop.

"Yes, I am that good," Tony crowed.

"Elevator," McGee managed to say.

The others followed his line of sight to see Hollis Mann stepping into the squad room.

"What is _she_ doing here?" Tony hissed. "Pity Jenny isn't around, or we could have a catfight."

Ziva stuck her tongue out impishly at her partner. "You would enjoy that, of course."

"Two beautiful women fighting over the same guy?" Tony questioned. "What's not to love?"

Hollis reached them and smiled. "I'm looking for Gibbs," she announced.

Tony decided to take charge. "He's in MTAC at the moment."

"I could pass a message on?" McGee offered. If Tony stayed in charge, Gibbs would never find out about this visitor.

"I believe I have information pertaining to your case," Hollis informed them.

"You flew all the way from Hawaii instead of making a phone call?" Ziva asked.

"It's important," Hollis confirmed. "I thought you might like to hear what I have to say in person, and you could certainly do with an extra pair of hands."

McGee sighed. Whatever this was, it was not going to be good.

* * *

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was aware that he was staring at Hollis, but he did not stop. He had never thought he would see her again, not after the argument in his basement that had ended their relationship. At least Jenny wasn't around, or he knew he would be refereeing a few arguments.

And it was definitely a good thing that Lily was on another continent. When she had found out about his relationship with Hollis, Jenny had forced her to swear on her own life that she would not harm one hair on the blonde's head. For once, it had worked. He had not enjoyed the thought of having to explain away attempts on Hollis' life, although he had been more aware than normal of when the sisters had swapped and Hollis had been face to face with Lily rather than Jenny.

It had taken him a while to realize why there had been no blood on the carpet, and his conclusions had not comforted him in the slightest. Fortunately, the rest of his team had been completely oblivious to the additional tension between Hollis and whichever sister was acting as Director.

Still, Hollis reminded him of a part of his life he wished to forget. He was with Jenny now, and father to two beautiful twins. The twins had recently decided it would be fun to put everything possible in their mouths, which was quickly leading to chaos. Jenny's jewelry seemed to be a favorite toy to them, and the redhead had been forced to stop wearing some of her preferred necklaces. Meanwhile, Lily had been deliberately given them things to play with, which meant she was currently not allowed in the same room as her nieces without supervision.

He wondered if he could remove Hollis from the Navy Yard before either sister found out she was not safely tucked away in Hawaii. Jenny would hit the roof, while Lily was likely to blow something up. Literally.

"A few years ago," Hollis began, making sure she had everyone's attention. "Seven army personnel were murdered in the same way as Marine Sergeant Jacobs. Each was stabbed, and the right index finger was removed."

"You have a suspect?" Tony inquired.

"We had nothing," Hollis admitted. "The murders took place over three years, scattered across the United States. We couldn't find anything to link the men. The only odd thing…"

Gibbs felt his gut churn.

Hollis took a deep breath. "I wanted to add another two deaths to the list. The only difference between their murders and the others were that the left index finger was removed instead of the right. Both of those men were left-handed, while the others were all right-handed."

"It would suggest that our murderer is removing fingers based on their favored hand," Ziva theorized aloud. "Which would indicate that he knew them in some way."

"We assumed he knew his victims," Hollis confirmed. "But, like I said, we couldn't find a link."

"And it looks as though your killer is back," McGee noted. "This time, he's going after Marines."

"I know that makes it your jurisdiction," Hollis pointed out. "And I know I'm retired. But I spent a lot of time trying to find this guy, and I would love to help out."

Gibbs felt the eyes of him team upon him. They could use the extra help, he supposed.

"Find a desk," he ordered, walking away. He could only hope that the Shepard sisters stayed away for a little while longer.


	4. The Return of the Redhead

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! In regards to the reference about Lily's desk, I have written it in a different story that's not yet complete. I believe livestock was involved..._

Chapter 4: The Return of the Redhead

Lily tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator to arrive at her chosen floor. After yesterday's phone call from LJ, she had decided to skip the rest of the conference. If Jenny was in danger, she would be more effective back in DC than stuck in stuffy meetings in Paris.

The list of people who wanted either herself or Jenny dead was enormous. Her own list was more substantial than Jenny's, but that did not make it any easier. Someone could be getting at her through her sister.

And they were succeeding. She had a niggling feeling as to what had happened, as to what exactly this was revenge for. There was precious little she could do about it, however, not without alerting her boss to some of her more recent actions. Although she could take the inevitable explosion, she did not want to risk it when there were other options available to her.

Right now, the Navy Yard seemed to be the best place to be. It was protected, just in case whoever this was decided to come after her more literally. It had LJ, which meant she could harass someone to her heart's content. And it was where Jenny was supposed to be, which meant that her sister would be less upset about her missing that horrible conference.

Most of the time, men had been hitting on her. Normally, this wasn't a problem, but seeing as she was being her sister, she felt outraged. Her sister did not deserve to be fawned over by slimy men when she had a perfectly nice one of her own back in DC.

Not that she would ever tell LJ. Still, she preferred him over all of the men at that conference put together. She was going to take a very long shower when she returned to her apartment. Coming straight from the airport had seemed like a good idea at the time, but her patience was starting to run very thin. Very very thin. She had almost murdered her driver earlier. The speed limit was a minimum, not something you had to stay under!

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, showing the squad room before her. At least nothing appeared to have been blown up since she had last been here. Not that she wasn't tempted to do so herself, of course…

Cradling her warm coffee in her hands, she stepped out of the metal cage and began the walk to LJ's desk. Perhaps she should have bought some chocolate at the coffee shop? A muffin would do her some good after the ghastly plane food. Were they trying to poison her?

Her head down, she didn't notice the person walking in her direction until they bumped into each other. After checking that her coffee was still intact, she looked up.

Damn.

Hollis Mann. What on earth was _she _doing here? She was supposed to be in Hawaii! Sitting on a nice warm beach, drinking alcohol, not working…

Lily decided she seriously needed a vacation herself.

"I am so sorry, Director," Hollis offered.

Lily bit back a grin. LJ hadn't told Hollis about her existence? This could be a lot of fun.

* * *

Abby paced her lab nervously. Things were very serious.

Who would want to kill Jenny? The dead body in the desert appeared to be a warning, but of what? Was Jenny safe?

Personally, she wanted Jenny on the first possible flight back to DC. Either that, or Gibbs to get on the first flight to New Mexico so that he could protect her in her hour of need. But Mommy and Daddy seemed to think she was still safe on the opposite side of the country, with no security detail.

Why could they not see the danger?

Perhaps it was because Gibbs was getting involved in his new case. Abby knew that Hollis Mann was back on the scene as well, thanks to McGee who was currently sitting in her lab, hogging her computer. While he was busy working, he had updated her on Hollis' mysterious reappearance. Well, not so mysterious if she had really come to help with the case. She found it slightly suspicious that Hollis had only come when Jenny was away, but hopefully it would all work out for the best.

She continued to pace, her mind slipping to the case. If their killer had gone after both Army and Marine personnel, there was always the possibility that he had also killed Air Force or Navy members. She had come up with the idea a few hours ago, and McGee was helping her try to figure it out. In their current timeline, there was a gap of two years between the deaths of the Army servicemen and the Marines. If it was because of another killing spree, they would have more information to go on. If it wasn't, they could speculate further.

Her silver haired fox hated speculation, and rightly so. There was no point in indulging in it without something solid to go on. Abby was aware of entire investigations that had been ruined by someone guessing and taking everyone else down the wrong path. No, science was an exact tool, and if you couldn't be exact, there was no point in saying anything.

She turned her attention back to McGee. He hadn't said a word in the last few minutes, and she was starting to become concerned for him as well. What if he had died and she hadn't noticed?

His fingers were still flying across the keyboard and his face was screwed up in concentration.

"Found anything?" she inquired, moving next to him.

He didn't take his eyes away from the screen as he replied. "Nothing, but I don't really know how other agencies report these things."

"I thought everything was standardized?" Abby wondered. "It can't be that difficult."

"Not like that," McGee explained. "Any cases are likely to be cold, and not every cold case is on the system yet. And I don't know if anyone else has made the link of a serial killer. Perhaps someone had a suspect and arrested him, not realizing there were further cases."

Abby crinkled her nose in concentration. "This is going to take a long time," she observed. "How much longer did Gibbs give us?"

"Two hours."

The Goth swore, before pulling up a chair next to McGee and helping him.

* * *

Tony DiNozzo continued to stare at the information in front of him. It was a complete mess, the result of Gibbs demanding answers soon. He simply didn't have the time to tidy everything up properly.

He had both NCIS case files and Army CID ones scattered around. Ducky had provided a preliminary psychological autopsy, which was sitting on top of his coffee cup. The physical autopsy report had found its way on top of his keyboard, Abby's report proving that a Marine boot knife had been used in the murder of Jacobs was under his mouse, and a profile from Army CID was concealing his computer screen. The desk was also covered in empty takeout cartons and chocolate wrappers, not to mention all the rubber bands that Ziva had returned.

Why had he thought it was a good idea to harass a Mossad Officer? Ziva had somehow managed to link all the bands into a long chain, which meant he would have to figure out a way to disconnect them before putting them back. If he didn't sort it out himself, Gibbs would come after him. And an angry Gibbs was not a good Gibbs.

There was no chance the case would be wrapped up quickly either. He had already missed a long marathon of Magnum he had been waiting desperately for, and there was another one in a few days. Maybe Lily could cover for him in some way if he asked nicely. Surely she could come up with a way to distract the boss while he slipped home for a few hours.

She had appeared to take Hollis' presence fairly well, but he hoped she was busy plotting something. Things were always more interesting with the CIA agent around, especially if she knew there were bets on her actions. If Gibbs stopped hovering for five minutes, he could set up another pool. However, doing something Gibbs disapproved of under his very eyes was a spectacularly bad idea.

Even if Lily did it on a regular basis. She was the exception that proved the rule.

He stared again at the files in front of him. How was he supposed to work like this? Lily had walked past a few hours ago and smirked. When he glared at her, she had explained that her own desk was incredibly tidy compared to his. It was some relief, at least.

His eyes were starting to cross over, unable to focus any longer. The next time Gibbs went on a coffee run, he was going to go to sleep. He really couldn't work like this…

He caught sight of a single line on a page and froze. He was certain he had read that in another file. As fast as he could, he located all the personnel files and searched for that one line.

He had cracked it.

"YES!" he yelled, jumping out of his seat and beginning to dance. "YES!"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, but did not stir from his chair.

"Found something, DiNozzo?" he queried.

"Oh, yes," Tony grinned. "Our Marines were all in the same platoon at Boot Camp."

"But that does not link the Army servicemen," Ziva pointed out.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Guess what? The Army personnel were all in the same platoon during Basic Training."

"Something connects those platoons," Gibbs realized. "Something worth killing over."


	5. Showdown

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Suffering from horrible block at the moment. Desperate to write something._

Chapter 5: Showdown

Ziva David watched carefully as Hollis and Lily eyed each other up. It had been a long day, and looked as though it was shaping up to be an even longer night. Especially if war broke out between the two women.

Hollis clearly did not know she was dealing with a twin. Neither Gibbs nor Lily had informed her; Ziva guessed Gibbs was keeping quiet in an attempt to make Lily behave. If the blonde knew she was not dealing with the Director of NCIS, Lily could take the hat off.

Or was it gloves?

Whatever item of clothing it was, Lily was keeping her head down. For now, anyway. There was always the chance she could do something interesting later. In fact, it was virtually guaranteed that she would do something later. She was probably plotting her ingenious revenge while simultaneously glaring at Hollis.

The Israeli wondered if it was too late to call Jenny back. At least she had some control over her errant sister. Lily would be sent back to the CIA and they would have to put up with little moments between Gibbs and Jenny that would tell Hollis that the man they had fought over was now taken. It was better than however Lily was going to break the news. With a large amount of luck, it would not be via a bedroom video tape.

She felt that Gibbs and Jenny should just get married. They already had children together, and it would simply advertise to everyone that they were off the market. It was not as though Gibbs was stupid enough to divorce another redhead, not when he was fully aware that her sister would want blood.

Lily versus Gibbs was always interesting to watch. They fought like cats and dogs, yet did whatever they could to please Jenny. If Jenny told them to cut off a hand each, they would do so without a second thought. And they worked well together as well, ignoring the fights and snarking. Their arguments somehow got the job done.

"There has to be some reason he's taking the right index finger," Hollis mused aloud.

"You mean, other than the obvious?" Lily questioned.

Everyone looked at her blankly. "The obvious?" Ziva asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I give up. Let me know when you've all had brain transplants."

Ziva narrowed her eyes as Hollis stared at Lily. That comment could never leave the mouth of the real Director of NCIS, but it seemed that Lily did not care. Or she had forgotten who she was supposed to be. Either way, this was not good.

"What is so obvious to you?" Hollis queried.

"Right index finger? Men who fought for their country? Hello?" Lily tried. "Seriously, get a brain transplant. How you all managed to get this far in life without an ounce of common sense is beyond me."

That provoked a glare from Hollis. "Insulting your own agents is not a good idea," she suggested.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "It gets me results in other places." Ziva assumed she was referring to the CIA. "Why try something new if the old still works?"

Hollis continued to stare for a few moments. "Conference room?" she offered.

The redhead grinned. "Deal."

* * *

Hollis Mann had no idea what had come over the Director. She had thought that the redhead was a sensible woman, ignoring the slight spark of jealousy she had seen. And yet now she was insulting her agents to their faces!

Something was seriously wrong. She had not failed to notice the surreptitious glares Gibbs was sending in the redhead's direction when he felt no one was looking. Neither had she missed the way the Director shot looks of death back, although she was not trying to hide it as much. The two old partners had worked well together the last time she had seen them. What had changed?

But other things had changed as well. The Director looked less tense, less preoccupied with other thoughts. She somehow seemed sharper, more alert, and she was definitely carrying her weapon with her instead of leaving it in her desk drawer. If she wasn't mistaken, Hollis had also seen the hilt of a knife at her back. This woman was prepared to wage one hell of a fight if someone came after her.

And her eyes… they were more guarded than she had ever seen. Not a flicker of emotion was showing, except for frustration a few moments ago. Not everything was as obvious to everyone. Surely the Director knew that?

She allowed her gaze to flick over to the other occupant of the elevator. The Director had not said a word since entering, merely pulling the emergency stop and waiting patiently for something to happen. Her entire body language screamed of calm, of someone who was not going to let anything affect her, even though her guard did not appear to be up. It was very disconcerting.

No one had followed them in, nor attempted to. It was probably a good idea. Hollis had not mentioned it before, but Abby had let slip that the redhead and Gibbs were back together. Everyone outside knew this was a discussion that needed to occur, if only to clear the air.

Hollis turned to face the other woman; the redhead copied her movements almost instinctively. It alarmed her slightly; how could someone predict her next step so well, without conscious thought?

"I want you to know that I am not a threat," Hollis began, feeling it was best to get to the heart of the matter as soon as possible. They did not have all the time in the world; the Director should be out directing, while she had a case to solve and a mystery to puzzle over. "I do not intend to come between you and Jethro."

"You honestly think I'm worried about that?" the redhead questioned, looking confused. "If I think you're making a move, I'll slit your throat. Nothing personal, mind."

Hollis stared at her as though she had just grown a new head. Making a mental note to discuss this odd behavior with Gibbs later, she ploughed on. "I thought I would make it clear to you –"

"Let me make something clear to _you_," the Director continued, without skipping a beat. "Do you really think your sudden arrival is not affecting Agent Gibbs in any way? I know him far better than you know him, and I know when I'm right. You being here is stirring up old memories, and my job is to make sure he can do _his_ job."

* * *

Timothy McGee kept his eyes focused on the elevator. He already had the phone receiver in his hand, all set to ring Janitorial when the doors reopened and only one of them stepped off. All of them were expecting blood inside Gibbs' conference room.

All except Gibbs himself, who appeared completely unconcerned about one of his exes and Lily in a confined space together. If the possibility existed that Jenny was in there instead of Lily, McGee would have been able to understand why – the Director had a lot more control over her actions than her sister. Lily would probably kill someone just for the sake of it.

There was no chance it was really the Director though. The interaction between Gibbs and each sister was different, especially when they knew who they were dealing with. And the previous discussion where Lily had accused them all of being idiots pretty much clinched it.

What was so obvious that they were missing it? Whatever it was, it had to tie together the missing right index fingers and possibly the left index fingers from the other two men Hollis felt were killed by the same perpetrator. Lily had made some kind of connection, but she was used to seeing patterns that no one else could. The CIA would never have hired her and continue to employ her if she wasn't good at her job. It was staring them right in the face…

Gibbs seemed to be deep in thought, presumably trying to figure out Lily's logic as well. He had a better chance; he had known Lily for far longer and understood her, at least as much as she made sense. Worst case scenario: he rang Jenny and asked for help. Anyway, Lily would doubtless throw the answer at them sooner or later, when she became bored with her latest game.

"Probie!" Tony hissed across the squad room, trying to avoid Gibbs' wrath. "New pool. What is Lily finally going to do to Hollis?"

McGee mused. Not kill her – Jenny would never forgive her sister. Most forms of torture were out of the window as well by that logic. Perhaps blow something up? Or a few laxatives slipped into her coffee?

"Slit the tires on her car," Ziva whispered. "She'll be halfway to the airport before she realizes it."

Tony scribbled down the bet.

"Tie a dead body to the rear bumper," McGee suggested.

He received two puzzled looks.

"What? It'll get Hollis arrested, and Lily would love that," he argued.

Tony shrugged his shoulders, but scribbled it down anyway.

Gibbs suddenly sat up straight. McGee tensed; the boss had figured it out.

"He's taking the trigger fingers," Gibbs announced. "The two other people must have been left handed. He's taking their trigger fingers."

McGee did not ask how his boss had come to this conclusion, but Lily had been right. It was obvious. Unbearably obvious.

Hopefully, it would help catch their killer before he struck again.


	6. Outed

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! I'm so sleepy..._

Chapter 6: Outed

Tony DiNozzo watched as everyone worked. As far as he was concerned, he had done his job by identifying the training link between their victims. Okay, so that had been yesterday, but genius needed a rest.

Across from him, McGee was trying to get into both Army and Marine records to see if there was a common denominator between the two groups. They had already ascertained that none of the graduates were the same, but people had dropped out of both platoons and it was likely their man was one of these. However, both sides were refusing to hand over the necessary information.

Ziva was trying to see if there had been any contact between the victims and their killer. There was always a chance that they had arranged to meet at some place, and it would save them the time of getting warrants for the other information. It would also be stronger evidence in court, if this ever got to court.

Judging by the look on Gibbs' face, there was going to be an unfortunate accident to their killer when he was located. The boss was never happy when someone killed a Marine, and this person had killed four of them. He was taking it as a personal insult. The man was breathing down their necks for results, although he had sent them home last night when Lily and Hollis had emerged from the elevator, presumably aware that Lily would need some form of supervision to stop her from killing his ex.

How the two women had not come to blows was unbelievable. Tony had not yet been able to corner Lily and get her to open up about the 'conference', while Hollis was busy searching for any more cases that might be connected to their one and would not appreciate any distraction. At least she was still under the impression that Lily was Jenny.

Jenny was due back in a few days anyway and then they would be shot of the CIA agent. She was actually quite well-behaved for once – she hadn't blown anything up, she hadn't shot anyone and she didn't seem to be playing any pranks. Except for the superglue she had put on Gibbs' chair, everything was normal, or abnormal. Tony wondered what she was really up to. Seeing as someone had faked her sister's death, she had to be up to something.

McGee swore loudly, making everyone look up. "They've put me on hold again," he explained sheepishly, indicating the phone in his hand. "They're demanding a warrant."

Lily reappeared from the direction of the back elevator, several files in her arms. "There a problem?" she asked, pausing by his desk.

McGee sighed heavily. "Nothing Legal can't sort out," he admitted.

As he moved to put the receiver down, Lily snatched it from his hand. She bought it up to her ear, listening carefully. Tony watched her; this was going to be interesting.

"Hello?" she tried. "No, I am not Special Agent McGee – do I sound like a man? You're talking to Agent Shepard of the CIA. You have exactly one hour to release the papers you've been asked to release or I'm going to relieve you of your testicles." She slammed the phone down without waiting for a response.

"Thanks?" McGee offered.

"Don't mention it," she grinned, continuing on her journey.

* * *

Hollis mused in silence. Agent Shepard of the CIA? Someone who looked remarkably like Director Shepard? And could impersonate her to a great degree? How had she not seen this sooner?

Probably because Jethro had never mentioned a twin sister. Not even hinted at it. She wondered if the other agents on his team knew about her and realized they probably did. None of them had looked shocked when she had identified herself on the phone to help McGee, nor in the least bit surprised. If anything, they seemed to take her threat seriously and were looking forward to her carrying it out.

She had not seemed to be joking about it either. From what she had seen of Jenny, the Director was a serious woman, but more attuned to politics than violence. This sister seemed to have an air of danger around her, the air of someone who was used to getting her hands dirty. Now, the carrying of weapons at all times made more sense; although she was not supposed to operate on US soil, she almost certainly was.

It also explained the slight tension between Gibbs and the redhead. Abby had mentioned that Jethro and Jenny were back together again, and a sister would be looking out for Jenny's best interests. Jethro spent most of his time glaring at her because they did not get on well – no one got on well with their in-laws. And this one was far more dangerous than most. She would probably gut him if he attempted to cross either of the sisters.

And she would probably be right to do so. Hollis knew that her own relationship with the man had ended with more of a whimper than a bang, and Jethro needed someone who could challenge him, keep him on his toes. Someone who was well versed in secrets and hiding things, and yet able to pry whatever was necessary out of him. Someone who could read him without him having to say a word. Jenny could certainly do all of the above.

If they had someone looking over their shoulders at all times, keeping an eye on them, making sure they stuck together through thick and thin, it would help them. If that someone could force them to speak to each other when they had argued and remind them why they were together in the first place, that could only be a good thing. If it kept them happy and together rather than miserable and apart, Hollis did not plan to intrude.

The elevator doors opened, bringing her out of her thoughts. She stepped out and headed through the doors to Autopsy, the domain of Ducky. The elderly gentleman was sitting at his desk, poring over his paperwork. She smiled softly. Nothing seemed to have changed down here.

"Good morning, Hollis," he greeted her without looking up.

She didn't ask how he knew it was her; she wasn't sure she'd like the answer. "Nice to see you again, Ducky," she replied.

"I heard the case has been cracked open," he continued, pushing his papers to one side and turned round to observe her. "Congratulations."

"It was more Agent Shepard's doing than mine," she pointed out.

"Lily likes to take the credit for a lot of things," he confided. "Feel free to push her off her pedestal sometimes."

"I can't believe I didn't make the Basic Training link earlier," she vented. "It was staring me in the face the whole time! If I'd figured it out, these Marines would still be alive."

"You can't be sure," Ducky observed. "From what I understand, there is no evidence to tie anyone to these murders. Evidence will be needed to make this case stand up in court."

"I could have pushed for a confession if we had a suspect," she argued.

"And still you would have no proof," Ducky soothed. "It's not your fault."

* * *

Gibbs let his eyes track Lily as she paced up and down. Something was bothering her, something she was not talking about.

He knew it was connected to a phone call she had received a short while ago. Since then, she had been on edge. She had not strayed far from the squad room, and had set up an area of her own on Hollis' desk. Hollis had yet to return from wherever she had vanished to, and Lily seemed to be under the impression that she was not coming back any time soon. This could only be a good thing; they needed to be separated for their own good.

Especially as Lily had admitted who she really was. He had honestly expected her to sit on that information for as long as was possible, or at least up to the point where Hollis was leaving. Still, he could see why she had done it. She would do just about anything for information and this case was bugging her.

It didn't help that she had made a few leaps. Normally, she avoided what she termed 'normal' cases like the plague, preferring complex, dangerous, drawn-out missions which put her life on the line. Now she had joined in, she wanted to see it through to the end, even if she felt this kind of work was beneath her. The redhead had an ego the size of Manhattan and sometimes he wished someone would crush it.

Although he often felt she deserved that ego. She was exceptional in her field, matched by no one. And if her ego got the job done, who was he to argue?

She continued to pace, up and down, up and down. His eyes hurt just watching her. She was never the most patient person, unless it was connected to one of her games, and sometimes it really showed.

"Are you planning on wearing a hole in that carpet?" he asked, nonchalantly. It would not be good if she realized he was actually concerned about her.

"Burning taxpayer's money," she smirked. "I don't think JL will like it if I shot half her agents while I wait."

"Wait for what?" he checked. Give her an inch and she would take a mile.

She stopped paced and arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Come on? I didn't give that speech on the phone to get the Army to release the files. I gave it so that they would complain to the CIA, who would complain to Arbourne, who would get me the files."

He stared at her, her logic making some kind of sense. As if on cue, the elevator dinged and Lily's boss stepped out.

"Agent Shepard," he greeted her.

"Hey, Louis, I mean Loius," she grinned. "Been in your office yet?"

The older man exploded. "How did you manage to feed a Probie into a wood chipper?!"

If it was possible, the redhead's grin widened. "Secret. Can't tell. Damn near impossible though."

The ex-SEAL glared at her. "Your files," he announced as he dropped them into her arms. "No one stands in the way of my agents. If the case isn't wrapped up in the next 24 hours, I'm sticking you back on Archives duty."

Gibbs watched as Arbourne left. "No pressure then," he teased Lily.


	7. Piles of Files

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Today is just going downhill..._

Chapter 7: Piles of Files

Ziva David continued to search through the files. The name she so desperately needed had to be in here somewhere…

They had only had the files for three hours, but it felt like three years. The Army seemed to have released a lot of material that did not pertain to the case, as some kind of revenge for being forced to release their files. In order to find a common link, they had to analyze every single piece of paper that they had been given.

This was going to take forever. Already, Tony had decided to pass the time by falling asleep at his desk, thus leaving his files untouched. McGee was racing through his collection, refusing to allow anything to distract him. Hollis had returned to a pile, and was taking her time, determined not to miss anything that could lead them in the right direction.

Even Gibbs had taken a pile. And, more shockingly, he had taken a pile to the Director's office. Lily had been conscripted into this, whether she liked it or not. Hopefully she would do her job well and not simply lie about having looked at the files.

How was she supposed to juggle her sister's duties, her own CIA ones and this search anyway? Gibbs would not have handed her a pile if he did not think she was up for the job, but their relationship was adversarial at the best of times and he could be trying to give her a heart attack. Jenny would never forgive him though, and she did not think he was stupid enough to mess up their relationship. Not for a chance of annoying Lily, anyway.

She dropped another file into her 'useless' pile. That one had not even pertained to Army Basic Training. She rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to help her to stay awake. Maybe she could slip out and get a nice cup of coffee later. It might help her to stay awake. Or Ducky would give her some tea if he was not busy. That would be better – a nice hot cup of tea and a friendly conversation. It would help her recharge her batteries and work more effectively.

Lily walked past and dropped a huge collection of files onto Gibbs' desk. He looked up in something akin to shock.

"Nothing relevant," she explained. "I'm not taking Tony's pile, but I will wake him up if you want."

Gibbs glared at her; the redhead grinned.

Ziva observed as Lily crept up behind Tony, being careful not to disturb him. The agent was blissfully unaware of what was about to happen to him, slumbering on without a care in the world.

Lily screamed in his ear.

Tony jumped out of his seat in complete panic, looking around frantically.

"Pleasure doing business with you, LJ," Lily smirked as she left, heading back up the stairs to her sister's office.

Tony took several deep breaths to calm himself while Ziva laughed. She really should have recorded his reaction; it would have looked very good on YouTube. Her eyes fell back to the page in front of her and she froze.

"Gibbs," she warned.

Without saying a word, Gibbs rose from his seat and came over to her side.

"I have a Robert Miller who dropped out of Army Basic Training here. He only just scraped through the psych test."

"McGee," Gibbs called. He didn't need to ask the question.

"Erm," McGee muttered as he flicked through papers. "Here! Marine Boot Camp, one Robert Miller in the same platoon as the others."

"Find him," Gibbs ordered, leaving for more coffee.

* * *

Timothy McGee continued his search. Now they had a name, it should have made their job easier. But it was rapidly becoming clear that it had not helped in the slightest.

He was still chuckling slightly over Lily's method for waking Tony up. He had half expected her to tip some of Gibbs' coffee over the sleeping agent, but the scream was better. And the look on Tony's face when he jumped out of his seat? Priceless. He really hoped Lily had bugged the squad room because he wanted to see that moment over and over again.

He was also wondering just how she had gone through those files as quickly as she had. He hadn't even been halfway through his own pile when she claimed to have finished, and he doubted she would lie about it, not when Gibbs would become furious if she missed the link. He supposed it had something to do with the sheer number of intelligence reports she would have to get through every day – with a lot of practice, she could undoubtedly take in all the necessary information incredibly quickly.

He still needed that experience. He was determined to be a good field agent, no matter how much Tony teased him. Although he was not yet comfortable to go out on a limb to make a decision, he felt he was getting there. His work was becoming more precise, he was more confident every day, and he could hold his own with his teammates. Except sometimes Tony, but even Ziva got annoyed with him so it wasn't all bad.

Sometimes he wondered why he was so determined to stay in the field. Surely transferring to the cyber crimes unit would be safer and more productive for him. And then something happened to change his mind: a cup of coffee and a smile from Gibbs, someone's life saved by him, him and Abby cracking a case together. It reminded him that he wanted to help people, that he was doing the right thing in life. His writing kept him sane at night and his work propelled him during the day.

He stared at the screen in front of him, slowly becoming aware that his eyes were incredibly heavy. He needed a break. Fortunately, Gibbs was on another coffee run, which meant he could relax.

"Do we have any proof that Robert Miller is the killer?" he asked his teammates.

Tony looked up, thankful to be given a respite. "No, but Gibbs' gut is churning. Also, he's the only link between the two platoons."

"Circumstantial," McGee noted. "We can't prove he did it."

"Gibbs will get a confession," Ziva pointed out, her eyes not leaving the screen in front of her. "Or his gut will tell him we have the wrong man, and we will continue to search."

"Lily's only had 24 hours," McGee added. "And that time is down to 19 now."

"Why does she only have 19 hours?" Hollis questioned.

McGee tensed slightly. He had forgotten she was the other side of the divider. "Err, because her boss gave her 24 hours to make sure this case was wrapped up or she would be on Archive duty again."

Tony laughed. "Does she live there or something?"

"Archive duty?" Hollis wondered.

"Cold case files that need typing up, files that need to be put away and kept tidy, might even be boxes of evidence down there to be reviewed," McGee explained.

"She does not talk about it much," Ziva piped up. "Although she clearly does not like it."

"What would Lily do if you suspended her?" Tony mused aloud. "Other than blow something up, of course."

"Probably take over from Jenny for a week," Ziva guessed. "Now, if you do not mind, I am trying to work over here."

* * *

Lily stood on the catwalk, resting a folder against the side. She was supposed to be reading, but she couldn't concentrate. Not in the slightest.

Her mind was flitting around, trying to tie several things together. Someone was after Jenny, that much was obvious. Was it connected to the bomb she had found on her own car a few weeks ago? Was the perpetrator who she thought it was? If so, Arbourne was going to kill her when he found out, not to mention Jenny.

Why did she insist on pushing everyone's buttons all of the time? She found it amusing and interesting, but she was aware it could lead to serious problems. Sometimes she needed to just play nice. But she had never understood that concept, never wanted to play nice. She did not see the purpose. She could behave around her son, mainly because she did not want to hurt him, but she even played with her nieces. They were too young to know better than to trust her, so she gave them objects to put in their mouths. She didn't want to hurt them; it was Jenny and LJ's reactions that made her do it. Repeatedly.

Deep down, she loved them to pieces. They were cute and completely not her responsibility. She could play with them for hours and hand them back over the moment they started to cry or smell. For some strange reason, LJ had put his foot down on her babysitting them, although Jenny was trying to work on that. She would be a good babysitter. She kept odd hours, required very little sleep, and did not plan to sacrifice them. What was wrong with that?

Her eyes drifted over to Hollis Mann as she felt LJ reached her side. She tried to turn her attention back to her file but it was too late.

"Coffee?" he asked, handing her a cup anyway.

She did not bother to thank him. She wanted him to go away, not stand by her side for ages.

He copied her position and looked out over the squad room. "Don't do anything rash," he warned.

"Who? Me?" she smirked.

"You know what I mean," he growled.

"Joined in the pool?" she checked.

He glared at her.

"I'll behave. For now," she decided. "Found Miller yet?"

"Working on it." His gaze returned to his agents.

A cell phone went off, and she automatically reached for hers. One glance at the screen told her not to bother. "It's yours," she told him.

Groaning, he dug his phone out and answered it with his usual brusque "Gibbs", while she tried to listen in. It would save him having to repeat himself.

He hung up and looked a little lost.

"Problem?" she queried.

"That was Dispatch," he informed her. "They have another dead Marine."


	8. Time

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Ducky's first line to Gibbs comes from something one of my lecturers came up with at a murder mystery event._

Chapter 8: Time

Ducky sighed as he examined the decedent. Another person murdered before his time. Some days, this was a horrible job.

And yet he loved it. He felt as though he was giving closure to the victims and their families, he was making sure that the perpetrator would be caught and brought to justice. He respected the dead and took care of them when no one else could anymore. If he retired… he did not know what he would do with the time.

He kept an eye on Palmer as the younger man joined in with the examination. The alleyway was damp and cold, but neither of them complained. The dead were far more important than a momentary discomfort.

Palmer shifted slightly so that he could see the right hand. As expected, the right index finger was missing. His assistant diligently called Tony over to take a photograph of the stump, showing how it must have been removed at the scene.

He was a good lad, Palmer. Honest, reliable, and friendly. Sometimes he needed to keep his feet on the ground, and he needed to watch his sense of humor, but he would make a fine medical examiner one day. A very fine one. One of the best.

It always amused him how much his assistant was scared of Jethro. The agent could be quite threatening at times, but he needed answers more than he was prepared to bite. And the man was more predictable then he liked to believe. Far more predictable.

Even his team could guess most of his instructions before he gave them. Like now, Tony was taking photographs, Ziva was questioning the witness who discovered the body, McGee was sketching the scene, and Gibbs was overseeing all the action. Even Hollis and Lily had not needed to be told to stay out of the way during this process. They would approach when everything had been dealt with and determined.

Jethro took a few steps closer and crouched down by his side. "Is it the same guy?" he asked, as impatient as usual.

"Well, I can definitely confirm that he's dead," Ducky smiled. "Beyond that…"

Jethro rolled his eyes at the weak attempt of humor.

"Fine," Ducky continued. "Marine Sergeant Thornton was stabbed in the abdomen, and he bled out where he fell. Although I can't confirm it right now, the wound is consistent with a Marine boot knife. There do not appear to be any other injuries, meaning he was most likely surprised or he knew his attacker and believed himself to be safe. Of course, it could be a combination of the two. The right index finger –" He indicated the hand, "Has been severed, again, shortly after death. There is nothing to suggest this was not our killer, but no real evidence to tie the deaths together."

The agent nodded, apparently mollified for the moment. He stood up and began issuing further orders.

"I think we could use the gurney now," Ducky informed his assistant. "There's nothing more we can do for him here."

Palmer obeyed.

* * *

Hollis felt different as she stood on the sidelines. Gibbs had encouraged her to come to the crime scene for herself, but she knew she did not have official authorization to gatecrash a scene. This did not seem to bother Lily, who had tugged her under the yellow tape. At least they had stayed to one side, out of the way.

She was more used to helping out, to supervising the investigation as Jethro was doing, than to stand on the sidelines and simply watch. It made her feel left out. She wanted to be in the thick of the action, she wanted to make herself useful. Standing around, waiting for the others to come up with something was not sitting well with her.

Beside her, Lily was spending her time glaring at the back of Jethro's head. Hollis wondered what the history was like between those two. Jethro was doing his best to ignore her, and she was doing her best to wind him up. A few hours ago, she had watched as the redhead had switched all the buttons on his keyboard around, before uploading something onto his computer. It had turned out that the 'something' had been a strange animated video with hideous singing and many spiders.

And it had set the sprinklers off as well.

Hollis had no idea how Lily was going to explain that one to her sister. The carpets were going to be ruined, paper everywhere had turned to mush, and every electrical item had attempted to short out at the same time. Agents were soaking wet and fuming, while Lily had stayed well out of the way.

She was surprised that Lily had tagged along on this trip, but presumed it had something to do with the deadline her boss had set. If she was around, she could try to hurry the investigation along. Personally, Hollis thought that Jethro would deliberately take a little longer than normal, so that she would end up in trouble, but the new body had dispelled that notion. Jethro would want this guy off the streets as soon as possible.

"Why another killing so soon?" she wondered aloud. "He waited an average of about nine months between each death and now he's killed twice in a week."

"People change," Lily answered, not taking her eyes away from Gibbs.

"It doesn't make any sense. Does he think we're on to him? Does this mean we have a leak somewhere? Why has he suddenly stepped up his timetable?" She continued to think. "Something changed – not him – something else changed and it's made him decide to do things differently."

"He's dying," Lily noted, her voice devoid of emotion.

"What?" Hollis needed her to explain more.

"Miller. Why change a pattern that has worked so well for so long? No one has linked these cases before, and as far as he knows, that still holds. He's good at killing because he slides it under the radar. Something big has to happen to change that. Suddenly, all that matters to him is taking down as many of his former teammates as fast as possible. It no longer matters if he gets caught, because he knows he's going to die. Everything's changed for him; it's forced him to re-evaluate his position."

Hollis stared at her.

"I'm a pragmatist," Lily snapped. "Live with it. If I'm wrong, I'll snog LJ."

* * *

Tony DiNozzo was not happy to be back behind his desk again. Although his only trip out had been to see a dead body, it was better than being back in the squad room.

Especially after the sprinkler incident.

He wasn't sure who was going to kill her first: Gibbs or Jenny. Gibbs was quite rightly furious that she had set the sprinklers off for a joke, while Jenny would be mad at the cost and disruption of it all. In her defense, Lily was busy arranging the cleanup and coordinating with Janitorial. She seemed to be aware that she had done wrong and was trying to atone for it, for once.

Which was strange. She pushed the limits because she wanted to, and trying to sort out the mess afterwards was never thought about nor dealt with. Perhaps it was because she knew how irate Jenny would be when she found out about this, and she was trying to do some damage control before her sister killed her. Or maybe she had finally learnt her lesson and was turning over a new leaf.

Tony snorted. Like _that_ was ever going to happen. Lily reveled in causing chaos and being in control. Taking those things away from her would probably be enough to make her curl up and die, unable to live without her vices. Give her someone to play with and she was happy. She was still glaring at Gibbs, as though this was all his fault somehow.

And in her twisted world, it probably was. She viewed things very differently from a lot of people. Her mind set was unusual. She did not seem to see people as beings with feelings, but pawns in a game.

She was probably playing another one now. He could see her standing by the front elevator, talking on her cell phone. Her efforts in hiding her conversation meant something was going on. Normally, Lily had no problems in conducting her business in front of everyone, especially if it meant she was preventing them from working. Her secretive actions were a warning sign.

He really wished Jenny was here. She could keep her sister in line better than anyone, with the possible exception of Arbourne. Lily behaved when she knew how much trouble she was going to be in, not when she felt she should be nice.

"I still can't find Miller!" McGee complained from his desk.

Tony grinned. "Does the ickle baby need a nap?"

"I agree with McGee," Ziva joined in. "I cannot find anything that would give me his current location. After he dropped out of Boot Camp, he appears to vanish."

"Perhaps something happened to make him drop of the face of the earth," McGee suggested.

"Like what?" Tony pointed out. "You don't just disappear. Nowadays, it's very hard to do that. You need some form of identification for anything."

McGee rolled his eyes. "Come on, Einstein. Tell us your theory."

"He wants to kill people," Tony theorized. "And he's found that the best way to do that is to stay off the grid. That way, even if we figure out what he's doing, it's going to be incredibly difficult to track him down."

Ziva slumped in her chair. "This is going to take a very long time," she groaned.


	9. Medical Records

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! _

Chapter 9: Medical Records

Lily dropped a big pile of papers onto LJ's desk. When he looked up at her in confusion, she merely smirked at him.

She had been determined to prove her theory that Miller was dying. She was absolutely sure of her conclusion; it was the only one that made any sense to her and she had a lot of experience with people. Being able to predict how people would react to various things came in very handy sometimes, and she had tweaked it to work out why he was murdering more often. As far as she was concerned, he believed he needed to take out as many of his former teammates as possible before he was six feet under.

The only problem with proving her theory was the fact that he had taken himself off the grid. Tracking him was damn near impossible, but she had thrown herself into it. She had found people who had better reasons to hide and access to far more resources than some loser who was convinced the world owed him, anyway. This was just another job, albeit with short time constraints imposed by Arbourne. He would pay for this later – she was already trying to work out how long it would take her to completely redecorate his entire office in a slightly different shade. Hopefully, the man himself would notice the change but no one else would, making him think he had finally gone mad.

She was still working out how to give him a heart attack. It was nothing personal; he just looked so cute when he was riled up and she couldn't resist. And she would win a nice amount of money on the back of it as well.

The downside was that she was fond of him, in a weird way. He reminded her that she had obligations to the Agency and to her fellow agents, that she had things to do that were more important than toying with Probies and harassing Darlene. He kept her in line, even if she was not particularly happy with the way he did it.

She looked deep into LJ's eyes before deigning him with an explanation. "Medical records for one Robert Miller," she grinned. "He's dying; I'm right. I suggest you get your butt in gear and find him, fast."

She left before he could come up with any form of comeback. She did not doubt that they could get into a sniping match, but she had other things to do.

One thing she had noticed in her many years of work was that dying people tended to be unpredictable. Not just unpredictable – rash. There was no longer anything stopping them from shedding their inhibitions and doing the things they had always wanted to do. With a serial killer, this meant he was likely to do something seriously rash. Something that would probably involve a spree killing.

Lily hated spree killings. They were very messy to clean up, and the paperwork was horrendous. Not to mention the chewing out she would get from Arbourne if he perceived her to have not done everything in her power to prevent it.

It was soon going to be evening, and she had a feeling Miller would strike again tonight. NCIS could live without her for a few hours; she was going to figure out where he was going and stop him.

* * *

Ducky stared at the medical records in from of him. He was becoming increasingly alarmed by the minute.

At least someone had managed to locate some form of record for the man. He had been getting earfuls from Abigail about how he had managed to drop off the grid, and how exactly was she supposed to find him without her own Caf-Pow machine? Even Timothy's skills had been unable to make a dent in the enigma that was Robert Miller.

Naturally, Lily had found something. He did not want to know how she had done this; it probably involved a combination of blackmail, bribery, violent threats and pleading. He had always thought her capable of finding out anything about anyone if she put her mind to it. There was a reason she was in the CIA, after all.

The person he was most intrigued about was Hollis Mann. She had been staying out of the action, determined not to get in the way. He knew it must be hard for her to return to somewhere where she had once worked, especially as she now spent her days in Hawaii, with only a few cares in the world. And on top of that, she was in contact with Jethro again. He knew their relationship had ended although he did not know the finer details, and he was aware of the slight tension that existed between them, even as Jethro tried to smooth things over.

And she also now knew about Lily. He had been sure that Lily would hide her existence while the blonde was in DC, but she seemed not to care. It gave Hollis a few answers, but Lily did not appear to gain from his situation. The redhead doing anything without any form of personal gain was incredibly unlikely, on a par with Tony arriving for work one day in drag.

Hollis seemed to have taken it mostly in her stride, which had amused him. When he had first met Lily and actually been aware of her existence, he had been thrown by her for weeks. He supposed it helped that Jennifer was not around at the same time, or things would rapidly become exceedingly confusing. Lily would spend all of her time claiming to be Jennifer, while Jennifer went into damage control mode, and poor Jethro would be left to pick up the pieces. One of these days, Jethro was going to end up tattooing names onto foreheads to put an end to the constant misunderstandings once and for all.

"Duck," Jethro growled.

"These files say that Robert Miller has advanced prostate cancer," he began. "By my estimation, he only has a few weeks to live, if that."

"Then why isn't he receiving treatment?" Hollis inquired.

"It is too advanced for anything except pain relief," Ducky noted. "And for a man like Miller to resort to painkillers would go against everything he believes in. He sees himself as a warrior, and he is furious that the world does not see this in him."

"In his world, they shouldn't have kicked him out of Basic Training and Boot Camp because he wasn't up to it," Hollis mused.

"Exactly. My main concern is that he is aware of his impending death. Given his desire to kill his former teammates, I think it is likely he will want to complete his 'mission' as best he can before he passes away. He has nothing to fear any more: it does not matter if he is detected or arrested. I fear the only way to stop him will be to kill him, and Miller is of that mindset."

"You think he might go on a suicide mission?" Jethro asked.

Ducky shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't rule it out."

* * *

Ziva David felt her head would explode if this continued. Because he had lived so much of his life off the grid, they would never be able to trace Miller in time.

She had come up with a new solution – stop worrying about Miller, find his victims. The others had been rightly impressed with her brainwave, and Gibbs had even smiled encouragingly before leaving for more coffee. Everyone had buckled down to work even harder than before, certain they would crack the case soon.

Of course, she had not counted on how many potential victims there were. Some were in Iraq or Afghanistan, some had died in the line of duty, and others had since left the forces. The military did not track anyone who no longer worked for them, and tracing everyone was proving to be both time consuming and frustrating.

And then, when they finally managed to get hold of someone, they had to explain what was going on. Most people seemed to think this was some form of prank and hung up quite quickly or just laughed. Only one person was taking this seriously so far, and that was only because Gibbs had taken the receiver from McGee and expressed his displeasure at a loud enough volume that the technicians had come out of MTAC to find out what the noise was.

Everyone was trying to help out. Ducky had emerged from Autopsy, Abby had left the safety of her lab, and even Palmer had been given a phone and a list of people to call. Gibbs was scaling back his coffee runs and returning with enough drinks for everyone. Tony was actually working for once and not playing about; even he realized how serious this was. Miller was going to continue to kill at an accelerated rate until they could figure out where he was going.

The worst part of it was that Lily had vanished. If she were present, she could have thrown the entire weight of the CIA behind their search and sped it up immensely. She would be threatening people with everything possible, calling in every possible favor and inventing a few more, mobilizing a taskforce and making everything happen. But she was Absent Without Leave. The redhead was going to be in a lot of trouble when she returned.

"I think I've found where he's going," McGee called across the squad room. Everyone instantly looked up.

Gibbs crossed the room in two seconds. "Where?" he demanded to know.

"Some of the Marines in Miller's platoon are meeting up tonight in a bar. They plan to celebrate five years since graduating from Boot Camp," McGee informed them. "If Miller knows about this…"

"He's got the perfect opportunity," Ducky pointed out. "Several potential victims in the same place at the same time, and he feels he should be there by rights."

"All he has to do is get a gun in," Tony mused. "He doesn't only have to take out his former teammates. He's got a lot of other people around; he could grab a few hostages at the same time."

"Gear up!" Gibbs ordered, slamming his coffee cup onto his desk.

Ziva smiled to herself. She always loved this part of a mission.


	10. The Bar

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Apologies for the lateness of this chapter - my computer has been playing up badly in the last few days and it slipped my mind..._

Chapter 10: The Bar

Tony DiNozzo listened as his cell phone continued to ring. For some reason he could not fathom, Lily was not answering.

This was highly unusual. Normally, she would pick up a call in seconds, especially as it could be exceptionally urgent. Sometimes she would answer merely to demand a call back at another time. But she always answered. The only reason he could think of as to why she wouldn't answer was if she literally couldn't.

He gave up again, cutting the connection. All he wanted to do was tell her where they were going. She could act as backup for them; not that they really needed her, seeing as the whole team was in one piece and they also had Hollis. On the other hand, the more the merrier, especially with Lily around. She was a good agent, even if she was reckless most of the time. But she would watch their backs, and you could never take too many people along to a situation like this.

They were not even sure what awaited them in the bar. Gibbs was positive Miller was going to show up, and it seemed likely he would try to kill his former teammates. He could take hostages, he could start randomly shooting – he could kill and injure incredibly easily. And he had to be stopped, by any means necessary. Another pair of hands that could help out with that would be a bonus.

Tony winced as Gibbs took another corner at high speed. Somehow, the boss was not worried about Lily being out of contact. He never seemed to worry about her though, but there was always a chance he knew where the CIA agent was. Asking him about it when he was taking corners at 90 miles an hour was a very bad idea, so he kept his mouth shut. It would help if they all arrived intact, not in dire need of the Emergency Room.

Hollis did not seem to be fazed by the boss' driving. Tony wondered how often she had been in a car with Gibbs before; he himself was not used to Gibbs' driving technique yet, and he had only worked for the man for nigh on eight years. Maybe her boss had driven like this?

At least Ziva wasn't driving. His crazy ninja Mossad chick did not seem to know any rules of the road. Lily was similar, except she somehow managed to keep his mind away from her driving and onto other things. Work things. She would discuss one of her more recent cases in great detail, making it impossible to worry about her driving on the wrong side of the road or outrunning another traffic cop.

He rubbed his hand over his eyes. Calling Lily again seemed like a good plan. Except…

"Boss? Why would Lily turn her phone off?"

Without needing to see Gibbs' face, he knew there was a scowl plastered on it. "Maybe she got fed up with you calling her," Gibbs growled. "I'm not her keeper."

Tony sighed. Great. Another thing to worry about. At least the lack of concern in the boss' voice indicated he knew where she was.

* * *

Timothy McGee breathed a sigh of relief when they pulled up outside the bar. Being trapped in the backseat between Ziva and Tony while being subjected to Gibbs' driving was not a good thing. It didn't help that Tony had been becoming more anxious about contacting Lily and constantly ringing her, and Ziva had been becoming more aggravated about the whole situation.

He breathed in the beautiful warm air outside the car. It was perfect; not stuffy and filled with tension as it had been in the car. He took a few minutes to let his color go more white than green before obediently following the others into the bar.

It had a welcoming atmosphere. The AC was cranked up high, bringing relief from the slight closeness outside. The bar itself was aligned by one wall, with a few tables scattered around for groups to mingle at. It was fairly crowded – not enough to be unable to pass through, but more than enough to make searching for one person difficult. There seemed to be many different groups around, from Major League baseball fans waiting for the game to start to college students who had only just turned 21.

He continued to look around him. The walls were painted a strange shade of light brown, making them almost look as though they were made from wood. A few big photographs hung on the walls, showing DC as it was many years ago. The lights hung from the ceiling and yet somehow kept most of the place shrouded in darkness. The floor was tiled, presumably to make it easier to clean up any mess.

There was a constant buzz of noise emanating from the crowd. Even when he tried to tune it out, the hubbub remained. People called out to each other from across the room, others greeted their friends loudly, while even more sang along to whatever song was on the jukebox. Trying to control any situation in this place was going to be very difficult. And trying to find Miller and the men he had probably come to kill was going to be even worse.

Hollis tugged his arm sharply. He followed her line of sight to see a table with Marines, almost certainly their targets. Glancing over his shoulder, he indicated them to Gibbs.

"Blend in," Gibbs demanded, somehow making himself heard over all the noise. "Find Miller, and someone warn those Marines."

McGee found himself following Hollis to the table. She did not have any official identification, and being warned by NCIS might encourage them to take this seriously.

"Evening," Hollis smiled. The Marines grinned back at her. "Was a Robert Miller in your Boot Camp platoon?"

McGee watched as flickers of confusion crossed the men's faces. One of them decided to take charge.

"I'm Mark," he announced. "Yeah, we know that name. Twerp couldn't hack it so they kicked him out."

"We think he's coming here tonight to kill you," Hollis informed them.

Mark snorted. "Him kill anyone? Not going to happen. Girl could hardly pull the trigger."

McGee stared at them in disbelief. They needed to get the message soon. They had no way of knowing how Miller planned to go about this.

* * *

Gibbs watched as his team slipped effortlessly into the crowd. McGee and Hollis had moved over to the Marine's table, and would hopefully convince them that there was a problem. He would have gone with them, but for one thing.

Upon entering the building, he had spotted a flash of red hair up by the bar. Seeing as Tony couldn't get hold of a certain redhead, he had a funny feeling he knew where she was. And if she was here, trouble was not going to be too far behind. It followed her like a loyal puppy wherever she went.

He sighed as he fought his way through the crowd to her side. She had a nasty knack of getting in the way of important situations. He wanted to tear her a new one and kick her outside. With a bit of luck she would whine and go home, venting her frustration on someone other than him.

But he couldn't do it, and he was well aware of the fact. If she was here, it was because she knew something he didn't. She had left the squad room three hours ago, and managed to make the link to this bar without any assistance. Which meant that she was in possession of information that he needed to do his job properly. Kicking her out could well result in a massacre. And she would willingly allow it to happen if she felt he was being mean to her. Damn woman needed to get her priorities straight.

He kept his eyes on her as she sipped her bourbon slowly. She had changed since she had been at the Navy Yard. Now she looked casual, as though she belonged in this bar. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, curling slightly at the ends. Somehow, she looked softer, less capable of mayhem.

Which was completely rubbish. Without needing to ask her, he was aware that she had at least two guns on her and somewhere around four knives. Just because they were concealed well did not mean they did not exist. And it didn't mean she couldn't use them.

Finally, he reached her side. She pushed the rest of her drink in his direction and he did not pass it up. If she was being nice for the moment, he would accept it.

"Didn't think I'd bump into you here," he greeted her, careful to keep his voice low. He didn't want anyone to overhear their conversation and panic. The more cryptically they could talk, the better.

"Fancied a change of scenery," she replied. "And I heard from a little bird that Miller might be coming here tonight."

"Care to tell me the name of the bird?" He seemed to spend half his life trying to pry information out of her.

She turned around and smirked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?" At least one of them was finding this whole situation amusing.

"Why are you here?" he hissed.

She shrugged. "I plan to stop him. Going to get in my way?"

"Not really," he admitted. "But we don't even know how he's planning to kill."

If it was possible, her grin widened. "Au contraire. He has a personal grievance, so he will kill them in person."

He glared at her, willing her to elaborate.

"It's not going to be a bomb. As much time and effort you can put into such a device, it doesn't feel as satisfying. He will come in person and kill them in person. I'm guessing a gun, but only because he can take out several people more quickly than he would be able to with a knife."

He gestured to the man behind the bar to bring another drink over. He really hoped she was right.


	11. Arrival and Departure

_Thanks to my beta Kristen!_

_Start rant: If you don't like my stories, feel free to ignore them. I'm not forcing you to read them. End rant. Sorry guys, long day. _

Chapter 11: Arrival and Departure

Ziva David continued to scan the crowd.

Or was it 'scam'?

The idioms were driving her crazy again. It did not help that everyone was making a large amount of noise, making it very difficult to think in a straight line. Her head hurt, and she wanted to go outside and get a bit of fresh air. Now she understood why the AC was turned on so high; the bar would be incredibly stuffy without it.

Her headache continued to grow as she looked around. She refused to allow it to distract her from her job; nothing could do that. She was Mossad and she could handle anything thrown at her. Just because she wanted to run from this place and never return did not mean she would actually do so. She was in complete control of her actions.

Someone stepped on her foot again and she resisted the urge to stab him in the back. It would make her day so much better. She was short on sleep, in a very dangerous situation, and she could not tell what was going on. Her partner was somewhere over the other side of the room, chatting to a very attractive blonde, McGee and Hollis was still trying to persuade the Marines to leave or at least take their safety a little more seriously, and Gibbs appeared to have vanished into thin air.

It took another scan of the room before she saw him. He was sitting down at the bar, with a familiar redhead next to him. Lily was laughing while he looked murderous. And they were both drinking…

This was not good. Ziva knew that alcohol changed the way a person reacted when in danger, even a slight amount. Hopefully, they were only pretending to drink the stuff, or there could be some serious complications further down the line. Especially as the two competitive agents might just decide to ignore the situation and play a drinking game instead.

She doubted Gibbs would do anything of the sort, but it was definitely something Lily might try.

What was she doing here anyway? How had she found out about this? She should be working herself into the ground in Jenny's office, not out in the field. There were a multitude of other places she could be tonight, anywhere but here. She was going to get in the way and cause even more problems than normal.

Movement in the corner of her eye bought her attention back to the door. She did not need to look at the photograph in her pocket to know who it was.

Robert Miller.

"Gibbs," she muttered, just loud enough so that he could hear her via the earpieces they were wearing. "He's here."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments. Ziva could not turn around to confirm her suspicions, but she guessed he was conferring with Lily. Not a good sign.

"Watch him," came the order from Gibbs. "We don't have any proof; it's all circumstantial."

Ziva wanted to argue that this had never stopped him before, but she had been bought up obey orders, not question them. Much as she disliked this order, she would do as she was told.

"Understood," she confirmed. She was determined to not lose sight of Miller, no matter what.

* * *

Lily made sure she had a new drink in her hand before she got up. There was always the possibility that she could have it split down her top by a clumsy member of the crowd, but she didn't really care. She was also aware that she had only had one glass so far and if she drank too much more, Arbourne would be able to have a go at her for being drunk on the job. Nevertheless, she had a plan.

Bars always gave her the same idea. She liked to flirt, and other people tended to respond to her advances. If she could flirt and bring in a suspect, things were even better. Add a little alcohol into the mix and she felt on top of the world.

There was nothing suspicious about it either. Miller would be on his guard, but probably wouldn't be worried about a beautiful lady approaching him. Especially if she smiled, laughed and flirted. He might try to brush her off, but it was normal behavior in a bar. He would certainly not realize she was a CIA agent who wanted to arrest him for multiple homicide and annoying her.

Annoying her ought to be an arrestable offense. It would make life so much easier and more fun. She could haul LJ down to the cells every time he so much as glared at her. Darlene wouldn't last a minute with the change either. It would be hilarious.

She had had to do some fast talking to prevent LJ hauling Miller away though. But it was for a good cause. This man was prepared to kill anyone who got in his way, and if they tried to arrest him while he was still in the bar and his former teammates were close by, the death toll would be horrible. Her answer to the problem was to get as close to him as possible without spooking him, and deal with him in that way.

Of course, it would help if Hollis and McGee could do their jobs and get the Marines out of the bar. She suspected Miller would try to follow them, thus giving her a chance to take him down outside. She was going to take any chance she got with this one.

Some people were wily, and she needed a lot of luck in apprehending them. Others were stupid, and slipped up so easily that she could find them in her sleep. Yet more were smart, meaning she had to put a lot of hard work into working out what they would do next.

And then there were people like Miller, who were just plain suicidal. She hated dealing with them most of all, simply because of their complete unpredictability and the fact they did not care who they took with them. She wanted to leave this bar alive.

She smiled as she sank into the seat next to him, forcing him to pay attention to her. "Hi," she giggled.

"Scram," he ordered.

Was he channeling LJ or something? She decided to go with the 'or something'; LJ was busy attempting to glare a hole in her back. "Single?" she asked, taking a sip of her bourbon. It always helped to check these things. Never knew when a crazy lover might try to finish the job off.

He seemed to look at her more closely. "Yeah. You?"

Good thing she never wore her engagement ring. "Got dumped last night," she lied.

He turned his gaze back to the table of Marines. "Don't know why anyone would do that."

She took another sip of her drink before placing her glass on the table. She was going to need both hands free from now on. Unless she was very much mistaken, she could see the bulge of a gun under his coat.

* * *

Tony DiNozzo smiled as he set eyes on Lily. That would explain why her phone was switched off. In all probability, she had not even heard him when he had been calling her, given the astonishing noise level in this place.

She was sitting next to Miller, which was probably a good thing. She would have him wrapped around her little finger within a few minutes, and then they could make a move on him. Perhaps they could evacuate the bar just in case? Setting off the fire alarm should do the job, although the manager would not be happy about that.

He shook his head slightly. He was starting to think like Lily. But if she hadn't followed through with that idea, it was probably because she had had a better one. Flirting with Miller would have a much more important purpose than he was guessing at.

He noticed her tense ever so slightly and felt Gibbs come over to his side. Something was wrong. She couldn't exactly call for help, but she had spotted something that meant everything was about to go to Hell in a handcart unless they could do something about it.

"Give her a few more minutes," Gibbs muttered, sensing his impatience.

Tony wanted nothing more than to go over and arrest Miller on a collection of bogus charges, but decided to trust his boss. There was a plan in this somewhere, even if he could not see the wood for the trees right now.

And then everything went horribly wrong.

One of the Marines had clearly spotted Miller, and had stood up to greet him. Tony did not need to be any closer to see the look of disgust on Miller's face as the other man approached. Reaching for his own gun, he took a few steps forward…

And the situation become worse.

Miller stood up and pulled out a gun. The crowd scattered, someone screaming "Gun!" at the top of their lungs. Chaos ensued as people stampeded for the exits. He found himself fighting against the tide in his attempt to get over there, Gibbs by his side. He was almost there when Miller pulled the trigger.

BANG

But it did not hit the Marine. Lily had risen from her seat and grabbed Miller's arm, pushing it down towards the ground. The bullet had passed into the floor. They continued to wrestle; Miller trying to raise the gun so that he could carry out his mission, while Lily tried to prevent him from doing any further damage. But the man was much stronger than the redhead; it was painfully obvious. There was no way she could hold him off for much longer.

Tony continued his fight to get closer. Hollis and McGee had managed to get the Marines to start to leave, but were now caught up in the crowd themselves. Gibbs was entangled with a large man who seemed to have taken a personal affront to the boss attempting to save everyone's lives, and Ziva had been carried halfway out of the bar. A table hit him in the shins and he doubled over in pain. This was chaos.

Lily twisted Miller's arm hard, forcing him to drop the gun. Before they could get any closer or Miller could launch another assault of any kind, Lily had her own gun out.

BANG

One shot later, Miller was lying on his back, clutching his stomach, while Lily was holstering her weapon.


	12. Epilogue

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! This is it for To Kill A Man... Family Day will appear shortly._

Chapter 12: Epilogue

Abby beamed as everyone gathered round in her lab. She had missed them, what with all the time and effort they had put into finding Robert Miller. At least he was dead now. The EMTs had been unable to save him at the scene.

And everyone had had a good night's sleep and looked completely refreshed. Even her silver haired fox was less grouchy than normal.

Of course, it helped that he was mad at Lily. The Goth had heard about her shooting an unarmed man, but Lily had simply argued that the guy was dying anyway, and pointed out that she was saving all of them on paperwork.

That had led to a serious argument between Lily and Gibbs over the exact amount of paperwork involved in an agent-related death, and whether it could ever be right to end someone's life because it might potentially save five minutes somewhere. Lily had commented on the fact that Legal did not have to get involved, Interrogation was free for someone else to use, and someone somewhere did not have to make the decision on whether to charge a man who was going to die in a matter of weeks anyway. Gibbs had muttered something about telling Jenny about this the moment she returned from New Mexico.

Which had amused Abby. Was Gibbs really so scared of the redhead that his best threat was to inform her sister of her actions? Lily was harmless! Unless she was mad at someone, but she wasn't mad at Gibbs.

But this was not the reason everyone was gathered around. Hollis Mann was due to leave to catch her plane back to Hawaii soon, and everyone wanted to see Lily's final reaction. They were certain she was going to do something, but the something was in question.

The pool was huge. Tony had managed to get it into thousands of dollars in only a few days, and it appeared that anyone could win it. Everyone had been careful to keep the pool away from Lily's ears so that she was not tempted to mess it up. Knowing her predilection for mayhem, it was best to keep quiet about some things.

Hollis was saying goodbye to everyone, and Abby made sure to give the blonde an extra tight hug for good luck. There was no knowing what could happen on a plane journey back to Hawaii, and she was also slightly concerned over what Lily would do to Hollis before she left. A lot of people seemed to think it would involve some kind of physical harm.

"I'll see you out?" Gibbs offered politely.

Abby stifled a giggle. Her silver haired fox could play the gentleman when he wanted to. If he didn't personally pick Jenny up from the airport tomorrow though, she was going to have to team up with Lily to get her revenge.

Lily was glaring at Gibbs, clearly not happy with this turn of events.

"It was nice to meet you," Hollis smiled to the redhead. She held out her hand to say goodbye.

Everyone held their breath.

The redhead walked over to Hollis, gave her a peck on the lips, and left. Everyone stood frozen in place.

Naturally, Tony recovered first. "Who won the pool?" he asked.

"Me."

Abby turned to stare at Gibbs.

He shrugged. "It was obvious." He caught Hollis' arm gently and tugged her towards the elevator. "I want that money by the time I return," he called back over his shoulder.

THE END


End file.
